Abstract:

The acoustic and orthographic form of English words is rich in variety and mastering English homonymy requires a complex knowledge of the basic principles of English pronunciation and its relation to orthography that is always related to the etymology of a given word. Homonymous words are frequently used on different proficiency levels of English as a foreign language. Occasionally, the less predictable or less systematic form of the homonymous word pair is used more frequently than the systematic variant. Learners of English as a foreign language often encounter homonymous words; therefore, teachers must present homonyms on the appropriate level and explain the peculiarities of their use. The aim of the paper is to present the most problematic areas in the use of English homonyms by the first-year university students of English collected from their oral and written production and to provide an overview of appropriate methods when teaching them.

Acknowledgements:
This paper presents partial results of the project KEGA 055-UKF-4-2016.

Keywords:

ELT, pronunciation, homonymy, English.